Destination Paddled: Upper and Lower Duck Islands, Ottawa River, Ottawa, Ontario
Date: September 12, 2019
Number of Paddlers: 3
Temperature: 22C (71.6 F)
Distance paddled: 8.0 km (5 miles)

This was a paddle that almost got cancelled. The wind gusts were “suppose” to be pretty strong today so we weren't sure if we wanted to be out on the Ottawa River in strong winds. It can get pretty choppy. However, we arrived at our launch site, and were talking to some kayakers who had just finished paddling and they told us about this inner channel on Upper Duck. So, we said, why not try it. We were very glad we did. We had a great time exploring. We braved the wind and waves when we paddled on the outside of Lower Duck Island. The wind was brisk at that point and the waves were pushing us pretty good. Coming back we had the wind at our back so were able to surf on the waves.

When we went into the inner channel, there was a small narrow and shallow entrance from the Ottawa side of the river. We finally found it and there was actually a guy in a canoe coming out so he told us where to paddle in the entrance so we didn't get hung up on deadheads in the water or sandbars. While in the inner channel we decided to see if we could find a “geocache” that was supposedly near us. No luck. Too much muck etc to walk through. Coming back, we did a portage overland and stopped at a small beach for lunch.

We did not see too many birds. We didn't see a Blue Heron this time and that is rare. We did see lots of Canada Geese. We also saw several turtles. We also saw one biplane. It was a circa 1939 Waco SPF-7 and offers site seeing rides of the city and operates out of the Air Museum.

The picture showing our track shows an airport on the left side of the picture. It is a small municipal airport that is used for vintage planes and other small private aircraft. It is also the airport used by the Air Museum.

Enjoy the pictures.

https://pbase.com/ckayaker/paddling_in_canada_2019

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